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Diana Da In Lee is a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University’s Center for the Study of Democratic Politics (CSDP). She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2024, under the supervision of Donald Green, Shigeo Hirano, Yamil Velez, and Naoki Egami.

Dr. Lee’s research interests encompass American politics, identity politics, and methodology. Her substantive research focuses on minority representation and (de)racialization in U.S. politics. Methodologically, she is engaged in improving external validity and applying machine learning to address measurement issues in identity politics.

Dr. Lee’s work has been published or is forthcoming in peer-reviewed journals such as The Journal of Politics, Urban Affairs Review, Nature: Scientific Data, and British Journal of Political Science. Her methodological research has earned accolades including the Best Paper Award from the Experimental Research section of the American Political Science Association and the Best Poster Award at the Visions in Methodology Conference in 2024.

Her dissertation, titled “Minority Political Ambition and Candidate Supply in the U.S.,” which was supported by an APSA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, examines candidate emergence among racial minorities in the U.S. In collaboration with a non-profit organization, Dr. Lee conducted field and survey experiments to investigate the process from initial interest in running for office to officially becoming a candidate.

Dr. Lee earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Prior to her academic career, she worked at an economic consulting firm, where she conducted econometric analysis for antitrust litigation and class certification.